I'm an organic farmer in Tennessee and I'm bringing change to this area on this very topic! I was trying to set up an account at Whole Foods in Chattanooga to sell my organic shitake mushrooms. They offered me .50 more per pound because I was organic however they were charging the public 3 dollars more per pound. The farmer does not receive the premium for being organic. It costs me a lot less because I don't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. I am currently selling my organic produce for the same price that Walmart gets for their conventional produce! We're also putting together a co-op of farmers so that everyone can afford top quality organic produce. I currently have 2 farms from Kentucky that are joining us to create change in their state! Change is coming!
@ROBERT ANDERSON He literally explained why prices are higher in the market in the original comment that you replied to. Read it before yelling about something that's already been answered.
I am a regenerative farmer and moving towards organic. When my topsoil is rebuilt I will be totally organic. And he is right my organic crops out yield my conventional its bug and disease pressure that hurts my organic crops. But the healthier my soil gets the less pressure I get I am 3 years out from being totally regenerative and organic
@@tworkshairline1276 Since you know very well what you're talking about, look it up and tell me what the world population was in 1800. And please stay polite.
he mentioned Chipotle as the largest organic company in America, but I live in Medford OR and the Chipolte was closed down by the health department shortly after they opened
In nature there is nothing "supposed to be". You should study the history of our planet to understand how nature works (for example 99.99% of species that have existed on this planet habe become extinct "naturally" before human kind even appeared. Science help us solve a lot of problems that are "natural".
It's special due to market relativity. Only about 5% of produce in the US is organic, making it the exception. When organic food becomes the norm again, it'll be cheaper than conventional due to simple ingredients, volume production and local availability.
@@VictorVonBelmont - Please don't tell me you are actually selling the LIE that the animals are going extinct due to NATURE & not the EVILS of the world killing them off LOL SHILL!!!
If you eat any farmed vegetables or animals (and you do), then nothing you eat is "natural" or "how nature intended". Humans have significantly modified plants and animals since the dawn of agriculture.
Hi Ali- in America, "organic" is a specialty food, in grocery business the specialty food market has been the only growth area in retail grocery. so what has happened is "organic" started out as a hi end food product, so in growth -it has been specialty food products that are selling, so Costco, Wholefoods, and Walmart , are now the biggest buyers of "organic" label. retail has been on a stagnate level for years, and it has been specialty foods like gluten free, organic, vegetarian, beverage industry, ice cream like Ben and Jerry's, that have had huge growth. one by one specialty food brands have been bought up by big corporations. This is one of the main reasons why "organic" is getting so expensive. although with Walmart and Costco entering the picture, "organic" in america will become industrial agriculture, it is all about volume and low cost. the Wamartification of the "organic" is happening.
I think there is a bit confusion in the video about cause and effect. Land income increases at organic farming not because it's more effective in a food productivity way, it's because they can sell the organic food for 2-4 higher price, their land income increases rapidly even is they produce less, but this does not mean that organic food is able to feed the whole planet.
+korokozohordozo Also, organic small farms do not report income so less expense. Normal farms pay wages, employee health care, unemployment insurance, Workman composition. and retirement plans.
This was a brilliant TEDTalk. Most people are befuddled by the cost of organic goods. I happen to be one of those people who eats organic as much as possible and I get questioned by friends and associates about my decision. This has given me the tools to convince intelligently about the costs.
This guy has converted me. I am going to buy all organic in the future. Organic fruits and vegetables. Organic meat. Organic grains. Organic tofu and soymilk. Organic beans. 100% organic.
I feel like the wrong question is being asked. Why is junk food so cheap? Look at a bottle of Coca Cola. They sell a 1.25L bottled water for more than they sell a 1.25L bottle of Coke. Even though the coke contains the same water, Has chemicals that are delivered from big food science companies. Has sugar that has been refined from sugar cane and shipped to the factory... Why is is much cheaper? The economics is rigged and stacked in the corporation's favour.
No, the correct question was asked, "organic food" is really expensive, mainly because people who doesn't understand science and believe conspiracy theories are willing to pay inflated prices for organic food. Organic is a super business that takes advantage of people ignorance about scientific topics.
Care to expand? what is your knowledge on the subject? In your sentence you only partially seem to get something right but I think for the wrong reasons. And btw conspiracy theories?? we are talking about real scientific issues involving multiple sectors of knowledge. I think your simplistic language is exactly the sign of that ignorance you point in others.
Hmmm. Last year I spent $1500 on ten tons of compost - two deliveries. I recently priced a 50 lb bag of urea nitrogen , $17. I could have gotten by last year with less than $100 worth of chemicals. I grow organically hence I do not use herbicides, weeding is very expensive, it takes time (which is priceless). Neem oil - expensive vs chemical insecticides. Add to this the price of seeds, greenhouse plastic, hand tools, etc. After all the expenditures people actually get pissed off because I charge $3 per pound for tomatoes! - why? because Walmart sells tomatoes for $1.50
Thank you thank you thank you! I so appreciate what you say and hope you will continue to speak up to educate people. You are helping to save our planet: people, animals, earth. Why is America not recognizing the importance of organic farming to sustain life?
Organic farming has 30-50% fewer yields that conventional food and it is NOT in ANY way "healthier" for you. It says on the FSA website that organic produce is not healthier. As a matter of fact organic pesticides have to be used more often, in greater concentrations and in larger amounts and are actually worse for the environment and your health. I used to go to the Glass house college and they were 100% organic and their food was the WORST food EVER. Their food was SO bad, I once went for 5 days eating absolutely NOTHING, it was that bad.
It so #$^%#% expensive because it's @#@% expensive to make, and #$@#$ difficult to separate it out. One thing that makes it so #$@$ to make is that the very Organic process can't use any of the chemical or pharmaceuticals that are the very thing industrialised farmers have been using to get much high productivity. Using old methods yields were modest, land had to be rested or it would lose available nutrients. Modern fertilisers put back those macro nutrients and some micronutrients (but damages the local biosphere ) ... the only way to stop the "nutrient loss" .... otherwise known as "food", is to produce _less_. But producing less, means that the overheads don't stretch as far, and the margin per item must go up to provide wages and return of investment (currently about (-5%) - 5%)). Maybe if he was farming not venturing or educating he would be able to realise that simple equation. You want food that has less production per hectare, with higher human effort, and without medication (and with extra certification) .... its going to cost _more_ than bulk manufactured cheap stuff.
+Claudia Duran You are right it is very expensive 2 and 3 times more in our area. If he is right and it cost less to produce organic then the Organic Food Industry is making windfall profits. The problem is he is wrong, I have a friend that produces Organic and non Organic Food and he says it cost more to produce the Organic Food and he uses pesticides on his Organic Plants because it is legal to do so. blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogsscientificamericancomscience-sushi20110718mythbusting-101-organic-farming-conventional-agriculture/ www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/06/the_biggest_myth_about_organic_farming.html
+Claudia Duran You know it, Claudia! It is less expensive for the farmers so that lower price should be at least partially passed down to the consumer.
Claudia Duran I don't mind buying organic food once in ahwhile only the price is not too high or decent or a good sale .yea some of the prices are outrageous. like maybe next time.
Up here in MT, a lot of conservation and agriculture NGO's don't recommend switching to organic because most family farms would be bankrupt by the time they receive the certification. Organic farming also has much more tilling, which means increased soil erosion rates and decreased soil health. I am all for no-till farming, but full organic is impossible for alot of smaller production farms. Other regenerative techniques can help cut inputs and increase profit, although most likely decreasing yield.
I'm a dedicated sustainable food home grower and local, organic and beyond shopper on 75% of minimum wage. It can be done. It does require meal planning to combat my food waste, looooots of homecooking, local, regional an/or seasonal eating, reducing meat consumption to mere flavoring quantities and adding lots of vegan dishes, getting off of highly processed foods and getting off my own butt to actually grow part of my own demand. (now, there will be a slew of reactions yelling "I could never do one of these things you just mentioned so, ohh em gee, forget it!" So, how about 50 or 75% organic or local?) You can not keep repeating myths if you have never made the full 100% effort to actually try it. I have and i have no myths left now even my beer is organic. It's all complete BS and i used to think exactly like that. Sure, there are still a lot of soil health and logistical problems in socalled sustainable farming but that doesn't mean it isn't at least better. ("It's not perfect so i'm not doing it!" BS, it looks like people are just busy to find any excuse not to do a thing.) It's not the fault of producers because they are begging us all the time to please, please tell them what you as a consumer desperately want. There is one single thing that all producers dread like nothing else, *losing customers*. Just look at all the sites where you can test products for free and leave reviews. They're groveling at our heels, man! My sis is into that stuff. Bless her. I don't feel i'm in a food war with her. Her perception of what good products are, is different. Imagine what would happen if her reviews contained this line "... I think this is a great product but i wish it contained more sustainable ingredients." The potential of this is mindboggling. What the world apparently wants, is ultra processed, rock bottom cheap, easy and that is exactly what they produce. They produce happy customers but unfortunately, the price is payed by the environment and it will take a long time before people come around and actually face the fact, it's *us* who do the damage. You can deny this all you want, but that doesn't lessen the problem or make it go away. It's childish. We have to become an adult species now. One baby step at a time, people. Come on. Yes, i am in fact super pedantic. Glad you noticed. It's an absolutely vital trait to me as i mainly use it to better my own behaviour. My change came by beating myself up and taking advice from people who already were where i wanted to be. It took me 3-5 years to get where i am and figure this all out. I mean to share. Much love.
Please don't conflate organic with sustainable. It may have some useful features but it strictly adhering to what is perceived as more natural is not a good way to achieve sustainability. Organic pesticides are often worse than inorganic ones and obstinate on areas like GMOrganisms is foolish. Take the good features and discard the rest, it's not an all or nothing deal.
90% of my food intake is organic. I eat some cheese, some poultry, but mostly tree seeds, veggies, corn tortillas, but no wheat. I have maintained a level weight for ten years now just changing my diet, and stop eating those overly processed, filled, food that only adds to the problems we have had for decades.
Good speech- but he didn't address the high certification and labeling FEES that organic farmers pay. That's a main reason why organic prices are higher. But, even if organic is more expensive initially, its still less costly when ALL factors are considered, like disease linked to diet and the resulting time spent in doctor offices for meds and treatment plus personal pain/suffering. Organic is how all food used to be before conventional farming started in the 1940's. Joel Salatin does a great job outlining the history of farming in, "Folks, This Ain't Normal!".
Correct. Also did not address the price of feed for organic animals and seed for organic crops. It is nearly double in price. Also did not address the huge subsidy monies that conventional farmers get as an advantage. The small scale organic farmer faces incredible hurdles. An industrial organic farmer may specialize and scale to compete, but the small farmer must be diverse to maintain fertility and simply can't compete unless they market directly and are able to educate customers on prices when marketing. Cheap food is cheap food. Does anyone expect a new dependable Toyota can be had for 10 grand off the showroom floor? You get what you pay for in food as in everything. What you are buying is a chance for a healthy life when you invest in organic food. What's your health worth? Each person must decide for himself/herself.
The root cause of expensive is brand name(Organic Certification),beaurocratic inspection,tariffs or other hidden reason. Demand/Supply is mostly excuse made by suppliers. Supplier always wanna jacked up the prices wether its organic or gmo. When hurricane hits ur state s, you will know it surely. Goodluck.
very nice rendition of organic realities. Good placed statistics and well identified that my country INDIA is feeding the world on exact terms and text. im studying heavily about organic farming and agriculture in INDIA by my interest developed in this arena now. very apt seminar now i got on youtube of urs and find it useful approach. nice words about organic farming, essential awakening is necessary. thanku ali
I was a produce manager at gelsons groceries stores in south OC and let me tell ya the Organic foods and veggies are delicious and better for you the only reason why they make a fuzz about the price is to control their stores and write off what they throw away and jack up the prices it's their way of having an excellent excuse to charge you for a company that can't even order what's needed for a single store and that's how they fix their s***** monthly inventories the truth is once u start having it you'll be hooked and they don't want that because the game will be over so don't cheat you'll self treat your self.
Great presentation, introduced by one of our team members, many of us watched it together. It was educational and motivational for our team, as a member of a small Bay area organic food company I recommend this video to everyone who cares about sustainability of our planet, people... Any small organic food businesses can use this video as an educational literature ! Cheers!!!
Orgnic food in India ??? No way that with the high pollution of the air, soil and water amd with the refusal of the indian government to make clean, that food in India is organic. Same for China where they use pesticides everywhere.
Ok then use monstrous amounts land to produce the same amount of protein that a single piece of meat has so we can destroy planet esrth once and for all, right? Right?
That's nonsense. For one, GMO food is perfectly safe. Secondly, organic is a scam. Thirdly, an animal eating corn that has been bred in a specific way doesn't change the animal's meat.
Five years later I don't eat meat at all and your right organic is a word you can't trust. Oganic is not a sticking point for me these day. I do eat only wild fish. I still feel we are what we eat like the animals. 😊
You don't need to feed the world. You just have to feed yourself. Stop depending on others to supply you with the most important resource a human needs. Plant a garden.
organic food is is more expensive because the government only subsidies gmo corn, and buys millions of pounds of unwanted fast food that would of otherwise been thrown away, and then promptly throughs it away, and organic food tends to not underpay and exploit to the highest degree their workers. its not just demand, its that the economy is artificially manipulated by big ag. there is also a problem with self regulation.
+Monit Jadhav Can you name one food is not organic? Here organic is a word to describe certified organic. It has nothing to do with being more healthy or sustainable. Organic as far as fertilizer is just mining the soil until it is has to move to another area.
+Robert Reznik Organic foods are more healthful! They are not more nutrious usually, but they are more healthful bc they don't contain all the pesticides and other checmicals , antibiotics etc... You will live longer woth less diseases.
Jacob K What other chemicals do they put in food ? Are you thinking of fertilizers? Are there any studies that show eating organic produced food allow people to live longer?
"25% of consumers buy mostly organic" this is bogus! if 25% consumers bought 50% of their food organic on average, the global organic market share would be at least 12,5%
In my opinion it's because the demand is still higher than the supply. We buy organic most of the time because we prioritize it (we don't eat out much and we cook more at home). The supply is getting better with time and so the prices.
You know what would be even better for the food system around the world. Eating local. Disbanding grocery chains, getting those who worked in grocery stores to work in the farm fields. Using our subsidy dollars to not fund animal agriculture/factory farming.Getting rid of fast food/proccessed food items from the shelves of stores. Making restaurant culture a culture based around whole food nutrient dense items. This would directly impact the poverty cycle. It would give north americans the needed push to lose weight, get off blood pressure medications, reduce health care debt in the U.S. We would then have extra labour available in our own country to build affordable housing. We would all do better as a whole continent. Then it can affect the entire planet.
anyone new to farming should learn about Bio-dynamic farming....once you have a calendar for your area,its a very simple way for someone to know what to do and when to do it.Even if you dont have animals....
Fabulous video. Well said Ali. We spent so much and invest so much for making food that is good for humans, but food for animals, because it is the animals that form the majority of the food consumed by the Americans. Going to a school cafeteria shows this pathetic status. It starts from the childhood. This speech shows that going back to basics is possible!
Because the conventional foods and other farm products are priced far below the full costs of production, as measured by USDA. For 8 major crops, if you multiple net returns per acre (USDA-ERS) by acres of production in the US, and then add up the 8 numbers each year, the sum is below zero every year 1981-2006, except 1996, and this continues until today for most of the crops, (though corn, soybeans and rice had about 7 higher years, 2007-2013). (Note: These full cost figures include a wage equivalent for farmers, so the losses are on the farmers' investments in land, machinery and facilities like grain bins, and since these are below zero, then it also cuts into wages.) So when you eat these other foods, you're being subsidized by farmers, (below full costs, and beyond that, below "living wage" price levels.
All very good points; but left out the most important point. The organic farms that have a higher yield and more profit than conventional are the ones that use intercropping and cover cropping instead of composting for nutrients. The latest studies show this and yet so many organic farmers insist on composting instead of intercropping and cover cropping. Composting is by far the most expensive method of obtaining nutrients.
Thank You. I am one of those average ordinary Americans. I dedicate a large % of my income to the added costs of buying organic. I do with out other conveniences and new clothing. I consider my fellow working man. I do not want to be responsible for the people working the toxic conventional farm. I do not want to be responsible for polluting water that is consumed by families living downstream. I do not want to be responsible for the pesticide nano particulate in the dust, The cancer levels of the people living near factories producing pesticides, fertilizers .etc. etc. People really need to know that the effects of their consumerism ride of the backs of people just like them
I am trying to eat organic food because organic food is NON GMO. GMO foods gives me health problems( indigestion, constipation etc..) I am not 1% or rich but it seemed I have no choice but to buy organic foods.
This guy is a genius. I learnes in my universoty studying holistic medicine, that the food produced in farms, can feed 12 billions.. that means we don't need industrial foods
I heard of a farmer growing cattle. Spent a ton of money on irrigation for the grass. All I could think was, like someone leaving a Moyle, you're missing the point.
It is amusing that the pesticides conventional farmers use are organic molecules that degrade fairly quickly, but many pesticides used by organic farmers (iron sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate) are inorganic molecules and could be in the environment for years. (But don’t worry, they won’t harm you. Unlike organic fanatics, I’ll be honest about the real risks involved.) I believe that organic crop production rules also allow the use of nicotine-insecticides, which are organic molecules. That's like forcing cute innocent insects to smoke cigarettes.
My partner and I lived a whole year on 95% organic produce with just $42K per annum of income between the 2 of us. We didn't go into debt and only slightly dipped into savings. With a $50K income for 2 of us, we could break even buying organic products. Growing it ourselves using permaculture would eliminate the expense entirely and cost us only 2 hrs per day to maintain. Something we're looking into! You eat a lot less when eating organics - higher nutrient density! :) Body gets what it needs a lot quicker.
Firstly pictures speak a thousand words: facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=490926834423621&l=73be8522c8 Secondly, we don't feel the need to eat large portions anymore - I personally decreased my portion sizes by 3x without feeling hungry or lacking energy...not to mention no more doctor visits or significant illnesses (other than the odd cold). I don't sell organic food though I wish I did, I make them a lot of customers. :P
77 Yy I wasn’t referring to a government regulation. Most of the food safety regulations are carried out by third parties companies driven by branded food companies.
Since I am not from the US, I can only speak for th EU, the homeland of organic food. Most statements that are brought up here sound pretty 'fantastic' in the original sense, apart from very few nieches. Sorry to say that but organic farming, at least in Europe, works only because it is heavily subsidised, much more than integrated farming. Farming is much more complex than stated here. Sheep on asparagus farms? Truly a food of the average American. Is that really the best example one could come up with?
The problem with organic food producers is that while they are either solving or had solved the farm input costs by using a close-loop system an another artificially imposed problem rose up and it is the profiteering practices of food buyer-seller/retailers and it is that of unscrupulous marketing. There was an incident in Japan when Masanobu Fukuoka sold his low cost and high quality organic foods from his self-contained/close-loop farm to a food seller and when he discretly investigated the food seller to see how well his fruits are selling HE WAS SHOCKED THAT THE FOOD SELLER IS SELLING HIS CHEAPLY PRODUCED FOOD AT ASTRONOMICAL PRICES MANY, MANY TIMES THEIR ORIGINAL PRODUCTION COSTS PLUS TRANSPORT COSTS AND STORAGE COSTS! He became angry at the food seller who apologized to him but to no avail Masanobu Fukuoka never wanted to do business with him! The same thing is happening in your America, organic food sellers-retailers are trying to make a quick buck by selling organic produce/foods at double of non-organic food by deliberately making it unnecessarily expensive to make it look like an exclusive high end niche food WHILE IGNORING THE FACT THEY ARE UNKNOWINGLY GENTRIFYING THE ORGANIC FARM-GARDEN MOVEMENT AND THIS IS CRIPPLING IT. SO WHILE FARMERS ARE BREAKING THEIR BACKS TO MAKE CHEAP ORGANIC FOODS THESE AGRIBUSINESSES ARE MAKING IT UNNECESSARILY EXPENSIVE AND CREATING A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE GENTRIFICATION PROCESS WITHIN THE ORGANIC FARMING-GARDENING MOVEMENT. Not to forget the fact that they are also very busy trying to create barriers against deliberate sabotage by Monsanto who is planting GMO crops in places where GMO pollen can drift in the air to contaminate and destroy the organic heirloom natural genetic seed varieties. But the organic farmers are fighting back by using rooting-cuttings propagation methods by using non-GMO willows which provides a natural rooting hormone and they are also propagating these 50 to 500 year old willows through the rooting-cuttings method.
Unless we expand the definition of "organic" to include micro-shards of plastic, that are now part of each rainfall, there is no such thing as "organic".
Long answer: when the demand is more than the supply there is a competition between buyers, hence they quote a higher price (like in auction) which hikes the prices. Futher to satisfy the demands, America imports the organic vegetables. Imported goods are always expensive.
It's more expensive because people will pay a premium for anything they perceive to be more healthy or environmentally friendly, even though science shows that organic farming is neither.
Expensive? Maybe, but blame the middle classes who will pay over the odds in the belief that they are doing the healthy thing by rejecting mass market foodstuffs. The vast majority can't afford those kind of prices and are pretty much locked in by economics. On the other hand we have producers who have higher overheads based on economy of scale that come from operating on a very small scale. Then, when some are willing to pay prices that are stupidly high, are happy to price their goods accordingly and profiteer on the stupidity of others.
+SirHenryofRR nope. Its purely a cost of production based on low volume. the exact method of production "Organic(tm)" mandates low volume resulting in market inelasticity. (ie the product would be ceased production if the prices dropped, due to it being unworthwhile to grow or handle)
Moringa can support the world basic medical/food needs plus * Bye Heath food stores. *Moringa Drought resistant trees .Some of them never get water & 25-40 ft they grow even in Asian countries where no other trees grow.These can supply all our basic needs while they heal & detoxify us & Planet -can support the world basic medical/food needs plus * We can grow in 100's of countries.*Moringa God's Miracle Tree! We're Blessed
Rodale found greater yields per acre on organic in side by side comparisons, mainly because, over time, it improved the capacity of the soil to hold moisture, for greater yields on drought years.
@@FireweedFarm I looked at the study and they have a chart that shows at 100 to 140 Bushnell / acre for conventional, but in the US the average corn yield is 168 Bushnells / acre. In other places they say yiels are "competitive with conventional" but they don't mention the actual yield they got with organic over 30 years. I How hard is it to create a table showing the yield by year. I'm open to see what results they got but they don't seem very transparent.
I really like your TED talk and would love to show it to my students. However, because of the title I can't show it in my class with students. Just thought I would throw that out there.
This person called the out they use no expensive pesticides their cost are 20% less but the yield is 15 % less, but the name organic should mean more than profit. The day will come that tall building will be farms and each floor will be two crops they will all be screened in and all elements will be controlled and solar panels will make a 22 hour going period giving the area 14 full crops each year. I am surprised the Elon Musk has not do this in a precurser of going to Mars.
Yep GMO is banned in Norway, however there are still industrial means like phosphorus mixed into fertilizer and the use of the least harmful pesticides possible, however the market for 100% ecological food is growing.
a simple calculator can tell you that bulk growing is more profitable. but there is a huge cost difference in labor. what is best for the land is normally not the most profitable as well. But makes it sustainable, one reasons why farmers don't rotate there cattle into there hay fields is the manure gets into the hay before it can break down as well as the output of cost of fencing and plumbing. Ali puts a good presentation together but it's not completely accurate.
but organic food is more expensive because u cant use herbacides or pestacides u lose roughly 10-20% of your crop which doesnt seem like much till you realize 10% of your income is alot
Americans spend only 10% of there income on food that includes all those junk rubbish stuff too,second world countries spend around 25%,third world spends around 50% or more and you people are not willing to spend additional money on organic food
Healthy food is expensive. That clearly leaves out everyone on minimum wages, that can barely pay their rent. Politicians need to start learning that they are voted on to take care of the people.
+daaksanir Politicians are never the solution. Poly=Many, Tick=Parasite. Through consumer demand for organic produce there will be more supplied. It literally works. In my local area at first there was little organic produce, but I kept buying it, telling friends to and telling the shop owners how I enjoyed the produce. Now all the markets in my area sells it, and organic cafes and organic pizza shops are opening up.
Workers need minimum wage floors set at living wage levels. Farm activists understand and support that. But it's a two way street. Farmers need "living wage" farm prices, which we had, 1942-1952. But then Congress reduced and ended minimum price floors, thus running most farmers out of business, as the corporate buyers had repeated record profits and returns on equity.
The law of supply and demand does not work for agriculture, though organic has been a rare exception for many years, as markets have continued to grow rapidly. Because of chronic free market failures, we need government market management, (of inventory supplies and of prices,) as we had in the early farm bills. Farm businesses remain very small compared to major manufacturers, which regularly practice inventory management. Farmers need government help to do that. Government made the biggest corporate buyers in the world pay farmers 67% more for corn, 43% more for wheat, 46% more for cotton, 76% more for rice, 51% more for milk, etc., for eleven years in a row, 1942-52 (compared to 1920-33). They fixed the chronic failure of free markets. We need this to make a profit again on farm exports. It makes no sense to lose money on exports year after year. We shouldn't subsidize foreign countries, (dump on their farmers).
1% in a high demand nation = higher prices. Some organic crops/animals also can take less time for the result to come than crops/animals with chemicals/pesticides = $ faster.
did i miss something? does he explain why they choose non-organic methods if organic is just as cost effective, efficient, etc? why isnt everyone switching?
I'm an organic farmer in Tennessee and I'm bringing change to this area on this very topic! I was trying to set up an account at Whole Foods in Chattanooga to sell my organic shitake mushrooms. They offered me .50 more per pound because I was organic however they were charging the public 3 dollars more per pound. The farmer does not receive the premium for being organic. It costs me a lot less because I don't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. I am currently selling my organic produce for the same price that Walmart gets for their conventional produce! We're also putting together a co-op of farmers so that everyone can afford top quality organic produce. I currently have 2 farms from Kentucky that are joining us to create change in their state! Change is coming!
@ROBERT ANDERSON He literally explained why prices are higher in the market in the original comment that you replied to. Read it before yelling about something that's already been answered.
God Bless You for growing organic food!!
I wish you were near me im in upstate NY and nothing not a darn thing here... please come here you are a blessing
Antoinette Oh yes there is. Upstate New York has organic farms and towns have farmers markets on weekends
@@garlandremingtoniii1338 yes i know but not here where i live NOTHING trust me you have to drive 50 miles before you can get something decent
"So, I think America should stop worrying so much about feeding the world and focus a little bit more on feeding itself." Well said Mr Ali Partovi !
Hi
U need to think more than tht...usa doesn't feed rest of the world for free...they think way beyond tht
I am a regenerative farmer and moving towards organic. When my topsoil is rebuilt I will be totally organic. And he is right my organic crops out yield my conventional its bug and disease pressure that hurts my organic crops. But the healthier my soil gets the less pressure I get I am 3 years out from being totally regenerative and organic
To Donnie Bargo:
Wonderful
Wonderful
Wonderful
Hugs and the best of luck to you.
I wonder where you are located.
Prior to 1800, all farming was organic. There was no other way.
Exactly
neil piper amen!! Until the white nation came!!
That's also when they had to feed only 1B people instead of 8B. It's not a good argument. To go back to that state we would need to kill 7B people.
Stephane Kiss shut up you don’t know what your talking about
@@tworkshairline1276 Since you know very well what you're talking about, look it up and tell me what the world population was in 1800. And please stay polite.
he mentioned Chipotle as the largest organic company in America, but I live in Medford OR and the Chipolte was closed down by the health department shortly after they opened
That's what im saying!!! Its natural, why is it considered something so special? That's the way its supposed to be in the first place.
In nature there is nothing "supposed to be". You should study the history of our planet to understand how nature works (for example 99.99% of species that have existed on this planet habe become extinct "naturally" before human kind even appeared. Science help us solve a lot of problems that are "natural".
It's special due to market relativity. Only about 5% of produce in the US is organic, making it the exception. When organic food becomes the norm again, it'll be cheaper than conventional due to simple ingredients, volume production and local availability.
@@VictorVonBelmont - Please don't tell me you are actually selling the LIE that the animals are going extinct due to NATURE & not the EVILS of the world killing them off LOL
SHILL!!!
If you eat any farmed vegetables or animals (and you do), then nothing you eat is "natural" or "how nature intended". Humans have significantly modified plants and animals since the dawn of agriculture.
Great video! I got a Roundup weed killer advertisement before it started tho. Haha
Anthony Fantozzi Get youtube Red. Five 5 years we have had it and no commercials
Hi and Anthony! Wayar wayar
Hi Ali- in America, "organic" is a specialty food, in grocery business the specialty food market has been the only growth area in retail grocery. so what has happened is "organic" started out as a hi end food product, so in growth -it has been specialty food products that are selling, so Costco, Wholefoods, and Walmart , are now the biggest buyers of "organic" label. retail has been on a stagnate level for years, and it has been specialty foods like gluten free, organic, vegetarian, beverage industry, ice cream like Ben and Jerry's, that have had huge growth. one by one specialty food brands have been bought up by big corporations. This is one of the main reasons why "organic" is getting so expensive. although with Walmart and Costco entering the picture, "organic" in america will become industrial agriculture, it is all about volume and low cost. the Wamartification of the "organic" is happening.
I think there is a bit confusion in the video about cause and effect. Land income increases at organic farming not because it's more effective in a food productivity way, it's because they can sell the organic food for 2-4 higher price, their land income increases rapidly even is they produce less, but this does not mean that organic food is able to feed the whole planet.
+korokozohordozo Also, organic small farms do not report income so less expense. Normal farms pay wages, employee health care, unemployment insurance, Workman composition. and retirement plans.
This was a brilliant TEDTalk. Most people are befuddled by the cost of organic goods. I happen to be one of those people who eats organic as much as possible and I get questioned by friends and associates about my decision. This has given me the tools to convince intelligently about the costs.
This guy has converted me. I am going to buy all organic in the future. Organic fruits and vegetables. Organic meat. Organic grains. Organic tofu and soymilk. Organic beans. 100% organic.
Before you do that, look at all of the other videos on YT that say organic isnt really that much better
I feel like the wrong question is being asked. Why is junk food so cheap? Look at a bottle of Coca Cola. They sell a 1.25L bottled water for more than they sell a 1.25L bottle of Coke. Even though the coke contains the same water, Has chemicals that are delivered from big food science companies. Has sugar that has been refined from sugar cane and shipped to the factory... Why is is much cheaper? The economics is rigged and stacked in the corporation's favour.
well the answer is simply, cuz they can made you sick and gain a bigger profit afterward
The business scale matters! more Coke, more addicted and more Coke....
No, the correct question was asked, "organic food" is really expensive, mainly because people who doesn't understand science and believe conspiracy theories are willing to pay inflated prices for organic food. Organic is a super business that takes advantage of people ignorance about scientific topics.
That´s right. Organic food is BULLSHIT.
Care to expand? what is your knowledge on the subject? In your sentence you only partially seem to get something right but I think for the wrong reasons. And btw conspiracy theories?? we are talking about real scientific issues involving multiple sectors of knowledge. I think your simplistic language is exactly the sign of that ignorance you point in others.
Hmmm. Last year I spent $1500 on ten tons of compost - two deliveries. I recently priced a 50 lb bag of urea nitrogen , $17. I could have gotten by last year with less than $100 worth of chemicals. I grow organically hence I do not use herbicides, weeding is very expensive, it takes time (which is priceless). Neem oil - expensive vs chemical insecticides. Add to this the price of seeds, greenhouse plastic, hand tools, etc. After all the expenditures people actually get pissed off because I charge $3 per pound for tomatoes! - why? because Walmart sells tomatoes for $1.50
Thank you thank you thank you! I so appreciate what you say and hope you will continue to speak up to educate people. You are helping to save our planet: people, animals, earth. Why is America not recognizing the importance of organic farming to sustain life?
It's not that organic food is more expensive its that junk food is sooop cheap like seriously a £1 burger I wish it was the other way round.
Even in India Organic items are costly, may be because of exporting organic produce to North America!
sss bcoz of the demand.. they are being exported mostly
Organic farming has 30-50% fewer yields that conventional food and it is NOT in ANY way "healthier" for you. It says on the FSA website that organic produce is not healthier. As a matter of fact organic pesticides have to be used more often, in greater concentrations and in larger amounts and are actually worse for the environment and your health. I used to go to the Glass house college and they were 100% organic and their food was the WORST food EVER. Their food was SO bad, I once went for 5 days eating absolutely NOTHING, it was that bad.
It so #$^%#% expensive because it's @#@% expensive to make, and #$@#$ difficult to separate it out.
One thing that makes it so #$@$ to make is that the very Organic process can't use any of the chemical or pharmaceuticals that are the very thing industrialised farmers have been using to get much high productivity. Using old methods yields were modest, land had to be rested or it would lose available nutrients. Modern fertilisers put back those macro nutrients and some micronutrients (but damages the local biosphere ) ... the only way to stop the "nutrient loss" .... otherwise known as "food", is to produce _less_. But producing less, means that the overheads don't stretch as far, and the margin per item must go up to provide wages and return of investment (currently about (-5%) - 5%)).
Maybe if he was farming not venturing or educating he would be able to realise that simple equation.
You want food that has less production per hectare, with higher human effort, and without medication (and with extra certification) .... its going to cost _more_ than bulk manufactured cheap stuff.
I love your interest in organic food from breana
breana mccab
The price of organic food is too damn high!
+Claudia Duran Curing illnesses is expensive, this in combination a better taste makes Organic the preferred choice
+Claudia Duran You are right it is very expensive 2 and 3 times more in our area. If he is right and it cost less to produce organic then the Organic Food Industry is making windfall profits. The problem is he is wrong, I have a friend that produces Organic and non Organic Food and he says it cost more to produce the Organic Food and he uses pesticides on his Organic Plants because it is legal to do so. blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogsscientificamericancomscience-sushi20110718mythbusting-101-organic-farming-conventional-agriculture/
www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/06/the_biggest_myth_about_organic_farming.html
+Claudia Duran You know it, Claudia! It is less expensive for the farmers so that lower price should be at least partially passed down to the consumer.
Claudia Duran I don't mind buying organic food once in ahwhile only the price is not too high or decent or a good sale .yea some of the prices are outrageous. like maybe next time.
The cost of an organic certification is not cost effective for most small farmers. It is very expensive. It's about the money.
Up here in MT, a lot of conservation and agriculture NGO's don't recommend switching to organic because most family farms would be bankrupt by the time they receive the certification. Organic farming also has much more tilling, which means increased soil erosion rates and decreased soil health. I am all for no-till farming, but full organic is impossible for alot of smaller production farms. Other regenerative techniques can help cut inputs and increase profit, although most likely decreasing yield.
5:15.
Those must be some well-mannered sheep...not to trample the crops.
@M S - LOL, I was wondering how they ONLY eat the weeds LOL
I'm a dedicated sustainable food home grower and local, organic and beyond shopper on 75% of minimum wage. It can be done. It does require meal planning to combat my food waste, looooots of homecooking, local, regional an/or seasonal eating, reducing meat consumption to mere flavoring quantities and adding lots of vegan dishes, getting off of highly processed foods and getting off my own butt to actually grow part of my own demand. (now, there will be a slew of reactions yelling "I could never do one of these things you just mentioned so, ohh em gee, forget it!" So, how about 50 or 75% organic or local?)
You can not keep repeating myths if you have never made the full 100% effort to actually try it. I have and i have no myths left now even my beer is organic. It's all complete BS and i used to think exactly like that. Sure, there are still a lot of soil health and logistical problems in socalled sustainable farming but that doesn't mean it isn't at least better. ("It's not perfect so i'm not doing it!" BS, it looks like people are just busy to find any excuse not to do a thing.)
It's not the fault of producers because they are begging us all the time to please, please tell them what you as a consumer desperately want. There is one single thing that all producers dread like nothing else, *losing customers*. Just look at all the sites where you can test products for free and leave reviews. They're groveling at our heels, man! My sis is into that stuff. Bless her. I don't feel i'm in a food war with her. Her perception of what good products are, is different. Imagine what would happen if her reviews contained this line "... I think this is a great product but i wish it contained more sustainable ingredients." The potential of this is mindboggling.
What the world apparently wants, is ultra processed, rock bottom cheap, easy and that is exactly what they produce. They produce happy customers but unfortunately, the price is payed by the environment and it will take a long time before people come around and actually face the fact, it's *us* who do the damage. You can deny this all you want, but that doesn't lessen the problem or make it go away. It's childish. We have to become an adult species now. One baby step at a time, people. Come on.
Yes, i am in fact super pedantic. Glad you noticed. It's an absolutely vital trait to me as i mainly use it to better my own behaviour. My change came by beating myself up and taking advice from people who already were where i wanted to be. It took me 3-5 years to get where i am and figure this all out. I mean to share. Much love.
melovescoffee I'm a homesteader, I hope you can get some land too. You deserve it and would do well and you would love it. Praying for your success.
Please don't conflate organic with sustainable. It may have some useful features but it strictly adhering to what is perceived as more natural is not a good way to achieve sustainability. Organic pesticides are often worse than inorganic ones and obstinate on areas like GMOrganisms is foolish. Take the good features and discard the rest, it's not an all or nothing deal.
90% of my food intake is organic. I eat some cheese, some poultry, but mostly tree seeds, veggies, corn tortillas, but no wheat. I have maintained a level weight for ten years now just changing my diet, and stop eating those overly processed, filled, food that only adds to the problems we have had for decades.
Excellent review! Thank you Ali Partovi & TED.
Good speech- but he didn't address the high certification and labeling FEES that organic farmers pay. That's a main reason why organic prices are higher.
But, even if organic is more expensive initially, its still less costly when ALL factors are considered, like disease linked to diet and the resulting time spent in doctor offices for meds and treatment plus personal pain/suffering. Organic is how all food used to be before conventional farming started in the 1940's. Joel Salatin does a great job outlining the history of farming in, "Folks, This Ain't Normal!".
Correct. Also did not address the price of feed for organic animals and seed for organic crops. It is nearly double in price. Also did not address the huge subsidy monies that conventional farmers get as an advantage. The small scale organic farmer faces incredible hurdles. An industrial organic farmer may specialize and scale to compete, but the small farmer must be diverse to maintain fertility and simply can't compete unless they market directly and are able to educate customers on prices when marketing. Cheap food is cheap food. Does anyone expect a new dependable Toyota can be had for 10 grand off the showroom floor? You get what you pay for in food as in everything. What you are buying is a chance for a healthy life when you invest in organic food. What's your health worth? Each person must decide for himself/herself.
The root cause of expensive is brand name(Organic Certification),beaurocratic inspection,tariffs or other hidden reason. Demand/Supply is mostly excuse made by suppliers. Supplier always wanna jacked up the prices wether its organic or gmo. When hurricane hits ur state s, you will know it surely. Goodluck.
I LOVE EATING ORGANIC!
very nice rendition of organic realities. Good placed statistics and well identified that my country INDIA is feeding the world on exact terms and text.
im studying heavily about organic farming and agriculture in INDIA by my interest developed in this arena now.
very apt seminar now i got on youtube of urs and find it useful approach.
nice words about organic farming, essential awakening is necessary.
thanku ali
I was a produce manager at gelsons groceries stores in south OC and let me tell ya the Organic foods and veggies are delicious and better for you the only reason why they make a fuzz about the price is to control their stores and write off what they throw away and jack up the prices it's their way of having an excellent excuse to charge you for a company that can't even order what's needed for a single store and that's how they fix their s***** monthly inventories the truth is once u start having it you'll be hooked and they don't want that because the game will be over so don't cheat you'll self treat your self.
Right ON!!!
Very interesting... Thanks for sharing!
Great presentation, introduced by one of our team members, many of us watched it together.
It was educational and motivational for our team, as a member of a small Bay area organic food company I recommend this video to everyone who cares about sustainability of our planet, people...
Any small organic food businesses can use this video as an educational literature !
Cheers!!!
Orgnic food in India ??? No way that with the high pollution of the air, soil and water amd with the refusal of the indian government to make clean, that food in India is organic. Same for China where they use pesticides everywhere.
Mithra Rostami you seem to have seen all of India through the lens of it's cities.
You are indirectly eating GMO corn if you're eating live stock fed these items. Eat organic meat too.
And cut down on meat, in general - whether organic or not. Better for the planet, the animals, and ourselves.
Ok then use monstrous amounts land to produce the same amount of protein that a single piece of meat has so we can destroy planet esrth once and for all, right? Right?
That's nonsense. For one, GMO food is perfectly safe. Secondly, organic is a scam. Thirdly, an animal eating corn that has been bred in a specific way doesn't change the animal's meat.
Five years later I don't eat meat at all and your right organic is a word you can't trust. Oganic is not a sticking point for me these day. I do eat only wild fish. I still feel we are what we eat like the animals. 😊
Funny how this is an investor and not a scientist talking about this.
Yeah that is a pretty big red flag
Bro are u fr?
THANK YOU ALI PATROVI!
You don't need to feed the world. You just have to feed yourself. Stop depending on others to supply you with the most important resource a human needs. Plant a garden.
organic food is is more expensive because the government only subsidies gmo corn, and buys millions of pounds of unwanted fast food that would of otherwise been thrown away, and then promptly throughs it away, and organic food tends to not underpay and exploit to the highest degree their workers.
its not just demand, its that the economy is artificially manipulated by big ag. there is also a problem with self regulation.
There is serious amount of important data in this talk. Good work Mr Ali .thank uou
Awesome Video. Organic food needs to reach everyone and must be in reach of everyone.
Da ;'4%£:*? M kn
+Monit Jadhav Can you name one food is not organic? Here organic is a word to describe certified organic. It has nothing to do with being more healthy or sustainable. Organic as far as fertilizer is just mining the soil until it is has to move to another area.
+Robert Reznik REZNIK ,WRITE YOU THAT YOU ARE IDIOT, IS NOT INSULT, BUT YOURS DIAGNOSIS.
+Robert Reznik Organic foods are more healthful! They are not more nutrious usually, but they are more healthful bc they don't contain all the pesticides and other checmicals , antibiotics etc... You will live longer woth less diseases.
Jacob K What other chemicals do they put in food ? Are you thinking of fertilizers? Are there any studies that show eating organic produced food allow people to live longer?
"25% of consumers buy mostly organic" this is bogus! if 25% consumers bought 50% of their food organic on average, the global organic market share would be at least 12,5%
In my opinion it's because the demand is still higher than the supply. We buy organic most of the time because we prioritize it (we don't eat out much and we cook more at home). The supply is getting better with time and so the prices.
You know what would be even better for the food system around the world. Eating local. Disbanding grocery chains, getting those who worked in grocery stores to work in the farm fields. Using our subsidy dollars to not fund animal agriculture/factory farming.Getting rid of fast food/proccessed food items from the shelves of stores. Making restaurant culture a culture based around whole food nutrient dense items. This would directly impact the poverty cycle. It would give north americans the needed push to lose weight, get off blood pressure medications, reduce health care debt in the U.S. We would then have extra labour available in our own country to build affordable housing. We would all do better as a whole continent. Then it can affect the entire planet.
anyone new to farming should learn about Bio-dynamic farming....once you have a calendar for your area,its a very simple way for someone to know what to do and when to do it.Even if you dont have animals....
fantastic talk TED
Fabulous video. Well said Ali. We spent so much and invest so much for making food that is good for humans, but food for animals, because it is the animals that form the majority of the food consumed by the Americans. Going to a school cafeteria shows this pathetic status. It starts from the childhood. This speech shows that going back to basics is possible!
This is inspiring me. Thanks.
If it isn't more expensive to produce, why don't the producers drop the price?
Because the conventional foods and other farm products are priced far below the full costs of production, as measured by USDA. For 8 major crops, if you multiple net returns per acre (USDA-ERS) by acres of production in the US, and then add up the 8 numbers each year, the sum is below zero every year 1981-2006, except 1996, and this continues until today for most of the crops, (though corn, soybeans and rice had about 7 higher years, 2007-2013). (Note: These full cost figures include a wage equivalent for farmers, so the losses are on the farmers' investments in land, machinery and facilities like grain bins, and since these are below zero, then it also cuts into wages.) So when you eat these other foods, you're being subsidized by farmers, (below full costs, and beyond that, below "living wage" price levels.
capitalism
eye opener
Really enjoyed this
“ Still no model facts on the best true soil certified for self planting. On Hands with true knowledge.
Awesome video!
All very good points; but left out the most important point. The organic farms that have a higher yield and more profit than conventional are the ones that use intercropping and cover cropping instead of composting for nutrients. The latest studies show this and yet so many organic farmers insist on composting instead of intercropping and cover cropping. Composting is by far the most expensive method of obtaining nutrients.
Thank You. I am one of those average ordinary Americans. I dedicate a large % of my income to the added costs of buying organic. I do with out other conveniences and new clothing. I consider my fellow working man. I do not want to be responsible for the people working the toxic conventional farm. I do not want to be responsible for polluting water that is consumed by families living downstream. I do not want to be responsible for the pesticide nano particulate in the dust, The cancer levels of the people living near factories producing pesticides, fertilizers .etc. etc. People really need to know that the effects of their consumerism ride of the backs of people just like them
great talk, Ali ! 👏
so we increase domestic supply to satisfy demand to lower consumer cost?
I am trying to eat organic food because organic food is NON GMO.
GMO foods gives me health problems( indigestion, constipation etc..)
I am not 1% or rich but it seemed I have no choice but to buy organic foods.
I am eating completely organic at home and it's improved my health 100X !!!!
Thank you some actually think gmo foods have an no effect on us
No idea if its the GMO part or the extra chemicals part. But i too must eat organic or my body lets me know about it.
This guy is a genius. I learnes in my universoty studying holistic medicine, that the food produced in farms, can feed 12 billions.. that means we don't need industrial foods
What a wonderful world it would be!
Good😳
one word why MONSANTO
I heard of a farmer growing cattle. Spent a ton of money on irrigation for the grass. All I could think was, like someone leaving a Moyle, you're missing the point.
organic is cheap now, it used to be expensive years ago...its very cheap
It is amusing that the pesticides conventional farmers use are organic molecules that degrade fairly quickly, but many pesticides used by organic farmers (iron sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate) are inorganic molecules and could be in the environment for years. (But don’t worry, they won’t harm you. Unlike organic fanatics, I’ll be honest about the real risks involved.) I believe that organic crop production rules also allow the use of nicotine-insecticides, which are organic molecules. That's like forcing cute innocent insects to smoke
cigarettes.
Nice video
My partner and I lived a whole year on 95% organic produce with just $42K per annum of income between the 2 of us. We didn't go into debt and only slightly dipped into savings. With a $50K income for 2 of us, we could break even buying organic products.
Growing it ourselves using permaculture would eliminate the expense entirely and cost us only 2 hrs per day to maintain. Something we're looking into!
You eat a lot less when eating organics - higher nutrient density! :) Body gets what it needs a lot quicker.
Curious to know if you noticed differences in your health... And what they were?
Firstly pictures speak a thousand words: facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=490926834423621&l=73be8522c8
Secondly, we don't feel the need to eat large portions anymore - I personally decreased my portion sizes by 3x without feeling hungry or lacking energy...not to mention no more doctor visits or significant illnesses (other than the odd cold). I don't sell organic food though I wish I did, I make them a lot of customers. :P
The sheep/asparagus example is nice, but an instant fail in a food safety audit.
Derek Azevedo we need to start making decisions not the government, the people have more power.
77 Yy
I wasn’t referring to a government regulation. Most of the food safety regulations are carried out by third parties companies driven by branded food companies.
Since I am not from the US, I can only speak for th EU, the homeland of organic food. Most statements that are brought up here sound pretty 'fantastic' in the original sense, apart from very few nieches. Sorry to say that but organic farming, at least in Europe, works only because it is heavily subsidised, much more than integrated farming. Farming is much more complex than stated here. Sheep on asparagus farms? Truly a food of the average American. Is that really the best example one could come up with?
The problem with organic food producers is that while they are either solving or had solved the farm input costs by using a close-loop system an another artificially imposed problem rose up and it is the profiteering practices of food buyer-seller/retailers and it is that of unscrupulous marketing.
There was an incident in Japan when Masanobu Fukuoka sold his low cost and high quality organic foods from his self-contained/close-loop farm to a food seller and when he discretly investigated the food seller to see how well his fruits are selling HE WAS SHOCKED THAT THE FOOD SELLER IS SELLING HIS CHEAPLY PRODUCED FOOD AT ASTRONOMICAL PRICES MANY, MANY TIMES THEIR ORIGINAL PRODUCTION COSTS PLUS TRANSPORT COSTS AND STORAGE COSTS!
He became angry at the food seller who apologized to him but to no avail Masanobu Fukuoka never wanted to do business with him!
The same thing is happening in your America, organic food sellers-retailers are trying to make a quick buck by selling organic produce/foods at double of non-organic food by deliberately making it unnecessarily expensive to make it look like an exclusive high end niche food WHILE IGNORING THE FACT THEY ARE UNKNOWINGLY GENTRIFYING THE ORGANIC FARM-GARDEN MOVEMENT AND THIS IS CRIPPLING IT. SO WHILE FARMERS ARE BREAKING THEIR BACKS TO MAKE CHEAP ORGANIC FOODS THESE AGRIBUSINESSES ARE MAKING IT UNNECESSARILY EXPENSIVE AND CREATING A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE GENTRIFICATION PROCESS WITHIN THE ORGANIC FARMING-GARDENING MOVEMENT.
Not to forget the fact that they are also very busy trying to create barriers against deliberate sabotage by Monsanto who is planting GMO crops in places where GMO pollen can drift in the air to contaminate and destroy the organic heirloom natural genetic seed varieties. But the organic farmers are fighting back by using rooting-cuttings propagation methods by using non-GMO willows which provides a natural rooting hormone and they are also propagating these 50 to 500 year old willows through the rooting-cuttings method.
Unless we expand the definition of "organic" to include micro-shards of plastic, that are now part of each rainfall, there is no such thing as "organic".
So it's still not clear to me why organic food is so expensive if growing it takes less energy and expense
Short answer: The Demand is growing faster than supply.
Long answer: when the demand is more than the supply there is a competition between buyers, hence they quote a higher price (like in auction) which hikes the prices. Futher to satisfy the demands, America imports the organic vegetables. Imported goods are always expensive.
Less produced by the farmer and more labor from them as well
It's more expensive because people will pay a premium for anything they perceive to be more healthy or environmentally friendly, even though science shows that organic farming is neither.
@@BenjaminGoose My body tells me to eat organic. No science required.
Where to get non GMO seeds ?
Feedco .maine, Jonny select Seeds, Maine, Bakers Creek.
Expensive? Maybe, but blame the middle classes who will pay over the odds in the belief that they are doing the healthy thing by rejecting mass market foodstuffs. The vast majority can't afford those kind of prices and are pretty much locked in by economics.
On the other hand we have producers who have higher overheads based on economy of scale that come from operating on a very small scale. Then, when some are willing to pay prices that are stupidly high, are happy to price their goods accordingly and profiteer on the stupidity of others.
+SirHenryofRR nope. Its purely a cost of production based on low volume. the exact method of production "Organic(tm)" mandates low volume resulting in market inelasticity. (ie the product would be ceased production if the prices dropped, due to it being unworthwhile to grow or handle)
Moringa can support the world basic medical/food needs plus * Bye Heath food stores.
*Moringa Drought resistant trees .Some of them never get water & 25-40 ft they grow
even in Asian countries where no other trees grow.These can supply all our basic needs
while they heal & detoxify us & Planet -can support the world basic medical/food needs
plus * We can grow in 100's of countries.*Moringa God's Miracle Tree! We're Blessed
I'm considered crunchy, but to compare food production in China isn't really a good metric. They turn plastic into rice and pass it off as food.
Love from India
Not sure he should be bragging about how much more acreage it takes for organic... that is part of the problem
Rodale found greater yields per acre on organic in side by side comparisons, mainly because, over time, it improved the capacity of the soil to hold moisture, for greater yields on drought years.
@@FireweedFarm I looked at the study and they have a chart that shows at 100 to 140 Bushnell / acre for conventional, but in the US the average corn yield is 168 Bushnells / acre. In other places they say yiels are "competitive with conventional" but they don't mention the actual yield they got with organic over 30 years. I How hard is it to create a table showing the yield by year. I'm open to see what results they got but they don't seem very transparent.
I really like your TED talk and would love to show it to my students. However, because of the title I can't show it in my class with students. Just thought I would throw that out there.
Dude hi5 love the work XX
Wonderful Ali , we are friends on facebook
You can use Woo&Pep instructions to learn about diet guys.
This person called the out they use no expensive pesticides their cost are 20% less but the yield is 15 % less, but the name organic should mean more than profit. The day will come that tall building will be farms and each floor will be two crops they will all be screened in and all elements will be controlled and solar panels will make a 22 hour going period giving the area 14 full crops each year. I am surprised the Elon Musk has not do this in a precurser of going to Mars.
Yep GMO is banned in Norway, however there are still industrial means like phosphorus mixed into fertilizer and the use of the least harmful pesticides possible, however the market for 100% ecological food is growing.
there are channels on youtube that are about growing organic farm. How to start and how to make profit.
a simple calculator can tell you that bulk growing is more profitable. but there is a huge cost difference in labor. what is best for the land is normally not the most profitable as well. But makes it sustainable, one reasons why farmers don't rotate there cattle into there hay fields is the manure gets into the hay before it can break down as well as the output of cost of fencing and plumbing. Ali puts a good presentation together but it's not completely accurate.
Uzbekistan would help you guys as well :)) still organic
Most of my food comes from Mexico.
Forgot about mentioning I grow vegetables and grass fed beef
If organic food isnt for rich people then why are organic strawberries 7 dollars as opposed to 3 bucks for non organic..
but organic food is more expensive because u cant use herbacides or pestacides u lose roughly 10-20% of your crop which doesnt seem like much till you realize 10% of your income is alot
Americans spend only 10% of there income on food that includes all those junk rubbish stuff too,second world countries spend around 25%,third world spends around 50% or more and you people are not willing to spend additional money on organic food
Healthy food is expensive. That clearly leaves out everyone on minimum wages, that can barely pay their rent. Politicians need to start learning that they are voted on to take care of the people.
+daaksanir Politicians are never the solution.
Poly=Many, Tick=Parasite.
Through consumer demand for organic produce there will be more supplied. It literally works. In my local area at first there was little organic produce, but I kept buying it, telling friends to and telling the shop owners how I enjoyed the produce.
Now all the markets in my area sells it, and organic cafes and organic pizza shops are opening up.
Workers need minimum wage floors set at living wage levels. Farm activists understand and support that. But it's a two way street. Farmers need "living wage" farm prices, which we had, 1942-1952. But then Congress reduced and ended minimum price floors, thus running most farmers out of business, as the corporate buyers had repeated record profits and returns on equity.
The law of supply and demand does not work for agriculture, though organic has been a rare exception for many years, as markets have continued to grow rapidly. Because of chronic free market failures, we need government market management, (of inventory supplies and of prices,) as we had in the early farm bills. Farm businesses remain very small compared to major manufacturers, which regularly practice inventory management. Farmers need government help to do that. Government made the biggest corporate buyers in the world pay farmers 67% more for corn, 43% more for wheat, 46% more for cotton, 76% more for rice, 51% more for milk, etc., for eleven years in a row, 1942-52 (compared to 1920-33). They fixed the chronic failure of free markets. We need this to make a profit again on farm exports. It makes no sense to lose money on exports year after year. We shouldn't subsidize foreign countries, (dump on their farmers).
When you spend hours at the store cause its crowded AF in the produce section but not in the health section.
Indian is not just a poor country just see in 2 decades
Where's the politicians when it comes to farming and the health of Americans????
Why would you want politicians involved with the Health of Americans. Americans has the safest most abundant food supply in the world.
Grow your own food, if you don't have land use your balcony or grow indoors in pots. Grow as much as U can.
1% in a high demand nation = higher prices. Some organic crops/animals also can take less time for the result to come than crops/animals with chemicals/pesticides = $ faster.
did i miss something? does he explain why they choose non-organic methods if organic is just as cost effective, efficient, etc? why isnt everyone switching?
The high demand
The sheep trampled half of my crop, and they had ecoli.
so organic food is so expensive I can't afford it because too many people like me are asking for it. that's an irony.......sigh.
+wergrethe More demand for organic foods is actually making it more available and more affordable.
India has been growing organic food for years now......